MORTGAGE

Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. is cutting about 240 jobs at two mortgage lending units, a person familiar with the situation said, as a global credit squeeze and a subprime lending crisis rattles markets.

Prices of metals, energy and grains tumbled on Thursday as commodities were caught up in a global rush out of risky investments for the safety of cash.

The havoc in the credit markets could reduce prices that office, industrial, apartment and shopping-center properties have commanded over the past few years.

As the market punishes banks and lenders for loose lending practices, investors want to know what's really at stake.

American International Group, one of the biggest U.S. mortgage lenders, warned on Thursday that mortgage defaults are spreading.

Homeowners who fall behind on mortgage payments say lenders have grown slightly more flexible in scheduling late payments but are less accommodating than they ought to be, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Mortgage applications rose for the first time in three weeks as interest rates fell sharply and demand surged for home purchase and refinance loans, an industry group said on Wednesday.

He's made a fortune picking through the bones of failed steelmakers, textile mills and coal miners.

Luminent Mortgage Capital Inc on Monday said it suspended its 32 cents per share quarterly dividend and is exploring options to boost liquidity, becoming the latest casualty of the U.S. housing downturn.

Half of American homeowners do not expect their house to gain in value in the coming year although those who said the value of their property was declining appeared stable, according to a survey.

Shares of subprime lenders and companies with a stake in the risky end of the real estate business plunged in midday trading on Monday as analysts downgraded them and negative news continued to worry the market.

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., a large home lender catering to people considered good credit risks, completed its rapid descent on Monday when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The head of Freddie Mac, one of the biggest U.S. mortgage finance companies, dismissed suggestions that his company should step in to bolster sagging financial markets by buying distressed loans, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. plans to close most operations on Friday and said nearly 7,000 employees will lose their jobs as the lender becomes one of the biggest casualties of the U.S. housing downturn.

Mortgage applications fell for the first time in four weeks, touching a five-month low and largely reflecting a drop in demand for home purchase loans, an industry group said on Wednesday.

Troubles are surfacing with loans made to better-off U.S. homebuyers in a worrying trend that indicates what's been termed 'The subprime crisis' may need to be rebadged 'The housing crisis' and eventually maybe just 'The crisis.'

U.S. lenders facing losses are abandoning the popular but risky loans in favor of safer opportunities.

Washington Mutual Inc. (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), one of the largest U.S. mortgage lenders, on Wednesday said it will stop offering some of the most popular home loans for subprime borrowers, after rising defaults caused losses to mount for dozens of lenders.

Mortgage applications rose slightly last week as a jump in refinancing demand overshadowed a drop in demand for loans to buy houses, an industry group said on Wednesday.

General Electric Co. has decided to sell its WMC Mortgage subprime lending business, the lender told employees in a memo on Thursday.

U.S. home foreclosures fell in June after jumping to a 30-month peak in May, but default rates will escalate as a horde of mortgages resets at higher loan rates, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Thursday.